Category Archives: I’m A Giant Dollhouse Challenge

Dear Dollhouse,

This week saw some progress with your backside. A traditional dollhouse is open only in the front, so I’m closing off the backside of my dollhouse with a huge wall of glass disguised to look like the rotting wall of a barn. Right now all the wood on the roof and side of the house is blond, but it’s going to go aged grey once I stain it the right color.

The wall is meant to look like it’s falling, so I made it angled. The angle makes it look a little unstable, but the whole house is supposed to look decrepit from the outside so I’m okay with that.

Just as a reminder this was one of the inspiration pics for my barn. I want it to look as gross from the outside as possible so that its inner beauty is what really shines through. I want the whole project to be a thinly-veiled metaphor for how I am more beautiful inside than outside. Oh yeah, and so are you.

Light is the most important part of any residence, so I wanted my barn to have as much glass as possible to let in the most light.

Once I’ve stained this I think it will look more convincing. Right now it looks extremely fake and modely. Kind of like you.

Don’t worry, I’m totally redoing those stairs. Actually, I have to redo a lot of the back of the house. The back wall is detachable so as soon as it’s done I’m going to take it off, add the plexiglass, and fix all the things at the back of the house I can’t get to right now.

Because doing the backside of the house was so tedious, I decided to reward myself by upholstering the sofa. I used foam core covered in navy linen.

Here it is covered in linen.

I still want to sew the edges of each cushion so it looks more polished (I did that on the built-in window seat I made). I love the color but the thickness of the cushions makes it much more contemporary than I had anticipated. I kind of don’t care though because I don’t want it to look like a mid-century theme house and I am going to be using a lot of mini-mid-century furniture.

That’s all for dollhousing this week. All I have to do now is stain the back of the house, add the plexi, paint each room, and build furniture for the entire place. I should be done around 2015.

Love,
Orlando

Dear Dollhouse,

We’ve had a tumultuous relationship. At first, I loved you hard. I worked so dilligently on you and was so excited to see you. Now, I fall into the fetal position an start crying every time I hear the word “Dollhouse.” I’m not saying that working on the dollhouse isn’t the funnest thing I’ve ever done in my whole entire life, I’m just saying that my life is devoid of the kind of “free time” that would be conducive to contributing the necessary time to my beloved dollhouse. Anyway, I have made a bit of progress with the help of a friend. Here it is…

I changed the color of the fireplace in the master bedroom to white and added a concrete hearth to add some warmth. The “concrete,” like everything else in the house, is made from foamcore.

I found these chairs at CB2. They’re Christmas ornaments that I bought on sale for $0.95. Not bad for dollhouse furniture, which often costs as much as normal furniture (exaggeration).

The structure of the back of the home is coming along nicely.

The concept for the roof is that it’s falling in and rotting away, allowing for plenty of skylights. The majority of the master bedroom will have a glass ceiling (insert joke about women in the workplace).

I stained the outside of the barn to make it look old and distressed. I used diluted acrylic paint. I’m pleased with the results and cant wait to stain more.

A fun fact about me is that I love staining things to make them look darker and richer. And by “staining” I mean “drenching in self-tanner.” And by “things” I mean my skin. And by “darker and richer” I mean “tan and gorgeous.” I’m scared.

My architect/friend designed this bed for me. It needs some bedding but I’m liking its simple modern lines.

I love the way the light falls through the back of the house. The beams will eventually be painted white from the inside and stained to look old and distressed from the outside.

This is the beginnings of a sofa. Just made out of wood, glue, and stain.

It’s based on this piece from episode 3 of Secrets From A Stylist.

These are some more $0.95 chairs from CB2. They need some baby cushions but I love them.

This is a the view from outside the floor length windows in the dining room. I have a fetish for huge windows.

And aerial view of the barn.

So that’s where I am right now in dollhouse world. I’m going to try and get a bit done this week and then have a major Oscar pre-party where I trick my friends into helping me by bribing them with alcohol. Yay!

Love,
Orlando

Dear Everyone,

I know a lot of you have been curious WHAT was up with my dollhouse. Well, here’s the scoop. When we started the I’m A Giant challenge, Emily and I were very busy starting our design company and working on clients all over LA and New York. So, to make a long story short, my poor dollhouse sat at Corbett’s house for months, languishing on in the cold garage. Until a few weeks ago when I realized that it was supposed to be done February 1. Clearly that’s not happening, construction is taking much longer than expected (as is often the case with new home construction). Ok, so here’s the progress I’ve made:

The first thing I did is hire my architect friend Louis to design the back of my house. I had no idea what to do back there because I want the entire back of the house to be glass/open but I want it to look like a falling down barn still. Thus, I hired a professional architect to figure it out for me.

For the bathroom floor, I’ve put down couscous as a pebble floor. I’m going to paint it white and finish it with a lacquer finish so it looks fancier.

I adhered the couscous to foamcore frame of my house with white glue. This process was one of those things that seemed like it would be easy when I started. Cut to me screaming and crying on the bathroom floor, covered in Elmer’s glue and couscous bits.

I painted this little chest of drawers peacock blue. Which is the new color of EVERYTHING I’m buying for my apartment. Glamour.

I had to do some minor repairs on the wall in the twins room (sidenote: my dollhouse is inhabited by two gay men Orlando and Ricky Martin and their twin boys Chadleigh and Tadleigh). I found out that you can spackle on top of foam core, which was pretty exciting. I am going to paint it all flat blue and then fix the trim, etc.

I’ve actually done a lot more than this but I haven’t had time to take any pictures because I spent the last week on a top secret celebrity interior design job. I’ll tell you about that when you’re older. Until then, I’ll be trapped in my apartment working on my dollhouse.

Love,
Orlando

Dear Dollhousers,

Something totally awesome happened this week. Emily and I were just hanging out, going about our business of designing houses for dolls and houses for people, when we got a package from Janet Blair (reader, designer, dollhouser) in North Carolina filled with awesome dollhouse furniture.

In the box was this awesome rug. I think I am going to dye it somehow or color it in. I think it’s pretty as it but I like the idea of making it more colorful.

This little dresser (for the kids’ room) is adorable. I think I am going to lacquer it a fun color. Perhaps red.

I added a stair-ladder to connect the second and third floors. It’s a bit casual but I thought it would make a pretty graphic against the back wall. I hope the doll family that moves in doesn’t mind how steep it is. I’m also experimenting with texturing the walls a bit. I don’t want them to look gross 80z style but I do want them to look like they are made of plaster, not paper.

These are the front doors. I added the hardware yesterday. But I think I’m going to stain them darker or paint them a color. The hardware is from the fabric store. They are for belts or something.

These awesome chairs came from Janet too. I am going to use them as king chairs and then make something cute (out of wire perhaps) for the rest of my dining seating. I made this super long dining table which I am going to stain dark grey. Super simple. It has a pretty grain on the top but I forgot to take a picture. Sorrlz.

Here is some of the baseboards I added .

Then I painted them all white. I think my whole house is going to be white because I’m planning a kick ass art collection. I might paint some of the rooms a color, but I haven’t made up my mind yet…

Ok, so onto the most exciting thing to happen since the last most exciting thing to happen. This week I made my bearskin rug. Now, just a little sidenote that I don’t know if I actually approve of real bear rugs, but I just had to have one for my barn. So don’t go out killing a bear to put him in your house.

I made the head out of Fimo. That’s the clay that you bake in the oven. Mine got all sorts of bear hair in it but I sort of didn’t care because I knew I was going to paint it.

After I baked the head I painted it and covered it in fuzz. It’s going to go next to the fireplace upstairs.

So that’s where I am in dollhouse land. I feel like I still have a TON of work to do. And honestly I am kind of sick of building the house and want to get on to decorating it. But all in due time…

Love,
Orlando

Dear Dolls Waiting To Move Into My Dollhouse,

Due to reasons beyond my control, there has been a slight delay in the construction of your home. Emily and I have been swamped with full-sized human clients and it turns out your house has been swept to the back burner until we get our human interior design projects further along. Don’t be sad, Dolls, I did see this wonderful fixer-upper at Rose Bowl over the weekend (for $68!). If you like, you can rent it while you wait for your glamour barn to be built. I know it’s not your style, but it will do for now:

Okay, so onto the slow construction down on the farm. Firstly, I added trim to the outside of the house. I am going to beat this up with a mini axe and then distress the whole thing and paint it grey so it looks like aged wood. I might even create some simulated holes in the outside of the barnhouse. I want the outside of my house to look as revolting as possible because, as you know, true beauty shines from within.

Oh yeah, and I added sleek doors. Creating them was a bit tricky because I had to encase them since the whole house is on a slant. I think they turned out pretty glamorous though.

For the outside, I want to do ring door pulls like this:

For the interior, I want to do sleek leather-wrapped chrome door pulls like this:

So, in conclusion, Dolls, I’m sorry your house is taking so long. It’s not easy building something from scratch. But it’s going to be worth the wait, I promise!

Love,
Orlando

Dear Wierdos,

So I’m still hard at work making my dollhouse for the I’m A Giant challenge. Emily, Corbett and I took a field trip to a dollhouse store (yes, they exist) in Torrance. The owners of the store are total dollhouse experts. They know everything about how to make a proper dollhouse.

I took a few inspiration pictures there, but didn’t buy much because I’m trying to make my dollhouse as cheap as possible. I do like this little globe though.

One of the Liliputians that lives in my dollhouse is an artist, so he’ll be needing one of these.

I’m not doing wallpaper in my house, but if I were I might use this kind…

Inspired by our trip to the dollhouse store, I went to Pearl Paint and bought a ton of foam core, wood, and other construction materials for my falling down barn. First, I drew the structure onto the foam core.

After I cut out the side pieces, I used books to figure out the correct height for the second floor. I use books for a lot of things because I am very smart.

Then I added the third floor and some walls.

I used a combination of pins and hot glue to connect everything together. Next, I started facing the barn with some wood siding. Eventually I don’t want any foam core showing anywhere.

And then on to making stairs, which is actually the hardest thing to design/make in the whole world.

These are the stairs I came up with. Eventually, I’ll face them with wood or some other natural material.

Now on to adding our wood floors! I chose a wide panel wood floor that I am going to stain grey. I used a hot glue gun to attach it.

This is the current state of the outside of the barn. I plan on staining it to look weathered and then adding some lichen and making it look as beat up as possible. I want it to look as if it’s rotting before our very eyes.

I have a long way to go but I’m off to a good start…

Love,
Orlando

Dear Readers,

The other day I was walking down the street, minding my own business, when my friend Emily called me to tell me some exciting news. I was crossing a loud intersection (Crescent Heights and Sunset) when I heard her scream into the phone, “I bought a house!” I was both perplexed and livid, because I hadn’t heard a thing about buying a house. Emily is one of my best friends, so I was mad she bought a house without consulting me first. I get very excited about home buying, and sometimes force rich people to look at houses just because I want to look at houses with someone who can actually afford them. Therefore, I thought, it was a huge affront on Emily’s part to leave me out of the joy of her purchase. Anyway, she let a few minutes pass before she told me that the house she bought was a dollhouse, at which point I was totally relieved. Apparently she and my other ladyfriend Corbett had shared a cocktail and came up with the most genius idea ever: a blogger-fueled design challenge for dollhouses.

We are calling this challenge the “I’m A Giant” Challenge. After all, next to dollhouses, dollhouse furniture, and dolls, we are all giants.

Who, you ask, is participating in this maniacal challenge? Well I’ll tell you:

My Boss, Friend, and Lover: Emily Henderson: www.stylebyemilyhenderson.com

Morgan from www.the-brick-house.com

Erin from www.designformankind.com

Corbett from www.girl-domestic.com

Jenny from www.littlegreennotebook.blogspot.com

Nicole from  www.makingitlovely.com

Kirsten from www.simplygrove.com

and Me www.hommemaker.com

As you may or may not have noticed, I am the only dude. So far. This is where you come in. I want as many Hommes as possible to participate. We will be sharing images from fellow bloggers, readers, and mini-enthusiasts on our blogs and will be choosing a selection to be shown in our closing ceremonies in Los Angeles in January 2012. So GIT EXCITED!

The whole idea is to create your dream house in the form of a teenie tiny dollhouse. This can be anything. It can be a crate decorated on the inside to look like a house. It can be a smashed up TV designed to look like the set of “Step By Step.” It can be a ten story mansion fit for Candy Spelling. As long as it’s creative, totally you, and you have fun doing it, it’s perfect.

I’m basing my dream house on a long-held fantasy I’ve held in my heart ever since I can remember. I’ve always wanted to live in a building that looked like a disgusting rotting barn from the outside. Old barns are wonderful elders that have so many stories to tell. They’re so humble and filled with so much history.

Look at this poor guy. Can’t get no love.

Uggg! Those dead vines!!! Priceless. I want!

Who wouldn’t want to live in there? So gorgeous (I’m serious).

This hole in the roof reminds me of Edward Scissorhands. Glamour.

So now that you think I’m completely bonkers, let me tell you what I want the inside to look like. I’ve also always dreamed of living in a huge New York loft. With pretty concrete floors, stylish mid-century furniture, and of course the best art collection in the world with plenty of Hedi Slimane photographs.

That’s a Damien Hirst above the sofa. In Donny Deutsch’s house. Not my favorite room but I love that his recent spread in Architectural Digest was all about his awesome art collection and his color pallet was very stark and mostly white.

I want these beams!

I know they’re slightly played out, but I’m totally putting in one of these hanging fireplaces. I love them so. And how open this room is.

My floor-to-ceiling shelving addiction will definitely be featured somewhere.

Because I couldn’t find any dollhouses that look like rotting barns, I decided to construct my own out of foamcore. Eventually, the entire thing is going to be covered with wood, plaster, fake mold, and other mini materials.

Want a sneak peak of my crazy house? Here is the basic infrastructure.

Yes, the lean is on purpose. I am a huge fan of asymmetry and it’s supposed to look like the barn is falling over. I’m slightly further along than this picture indicates. I recently had my floor guys (me) come in and install some hardwood floors as well as my siding guys (me) put some siding on the house. I have been toying with the idea of doing an addition in the form of a silo because I need extra room for a kitchen, playroom, and terrace. I can’t decide yet whether or not that will suit the miniature family that I’m building the house for. I’ll do another post soon about my progress, but I didn’t want to overwhelm you because the crazy news of this ridiculous challenge is kind of a lot to handle.

Finally, in only slightly related news, here is a picture of another miniature thing: MY BABY NIECE! (In the center):

She is the cutest and smartest baby in the whole world and if you disagree I might have to make an appointment for you. With my fist!

Now get into it, Hommes and Hommegirls, and let’s rock this challenge! The deadline for completion is December 15. Godspeed!

Love,
Orlando